Every day I get a calls from dealers for whom transactions have virtually stopped. Here is a picture of one category, the auctions, that slowed in the fall and have resumed, albeit at lower price levels, but at sell-though rates near to historic norms - 70% to 75%. To see this we are now providing, as a permanent feature, auction box scores because this is where book valuation is reestablishing its equilibrium today. For people who believe that the world of books is changing this is a front row seat. Individual sales are interesting. Many sales taken together provide a perspective you ...
By Michael Stillman
Ebay, the largest online auction seller (and now significant fixed-price seller) announced some changes which may prove to be important in time. It certainly represents a 180...
By Bruce McKinney
In a thousand places the drama of life has played itself out and the details disappeared. The famous and infamous have lived on in collective memory, the simply good, bad and ...
By Michael Stillman
Amazon.com found itself in the midst of a terrible imbroglio recently, one that must have covered just about every nightmarish subject for the traditional book lover. Subject...
By Michael Stillman
We don't know whether Mike Dau read the story about the Iowa woman who spent several hours in jail over a six-month overdue library book, but we will guess not. If so, he mus...
By Bruce McKinney
In the aftermath of World War II a glow descended upon America. The nation was victorious and all things seemed possible. The post-depression lethargy that gripped America in...
By Karen Wright
We are back again after two months in the lovely country of Costa Rica. Three years ago, after our first trip, I did a couple of stories about book shopping in Costa Rica and ca...
By Michael Stillman
A remarkable early photograph (daguerreotype) of New York was sold at Sotheby's auction house in that very city on March 30, 2009, over 160 years after it was taken. The phot...
By Bruce McKinney
The human mind is a fabulous and sometimes disordered mechanism. It recognizes the red and green of traffic lights, registers differences of temperature sufficiently to keep u...
By Michael Stillman
The World Digital Library opened for business on April 21. As the name suggests, there are no desks, stacks, or librarians whispering "shhhh..." This is an online collection ...
By Michael Stillman
A massive paper record of historic bird migrations is migrating to a computer database, and this is one case where even the greatest fan of paper cannot help but be pleased t...
Thirteen new bookseller catalogues are reviewed in the latest issue of AE Monthly. James Cummins Bookseller celebrates his 100th catalogue and 30 years in the business with 30 outstanding items. Ra...
High Bids Win Rare Books, Catalogs, Magazines and Machine Manuals December 24 to January 9
High Bids Win, Dec. 24 – Jan. 9: Ellis Smith Prints unsigned. 20” by 16”.
High Bids Win, Dec. 24 – Jan. 9: United typothetae of America presidents. Pictures of 37 UTA presidents 46th annual convention United typothetae of America Cincinnati 1932.
High Bids Win, Dec. 24 – Jan. 9: Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec signed Paper Impressionism Art Prints. MayMilton 9 1/2” by 13” Reine de Joie 9 1/2” by 13”.
High Bids Win Rare Books, Catalogs, Magazines and Machine Manuals December 24 to January 9
High Bids Win, Dec. 24 – Jan. 9: Aberle’ Ballet editions. 108th triumph, American season spring and summer 1944.
High Bids Win, Dec. 24 – Jan. 9: Puss ‘n Boots. 1994 Charles Perrult All four are signed by Andreas Deja
High Bids Win, Dec. 24 – Jan. 9: Specimen book of type faces. Job composition department, Philadelphia gazette publishing company .
High Bids Win Rare Books, Catalogs, Magazines and Machine Manuals December 24 to January 9
High Bids Win, Dec. 24 – Jan. 9: An exhibit of printed books, Bridwell library.
High Bids Win, Dec. 24 – Jan. 9: A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur Court By Mark Twain 1889.
High Bids Win, Dec. 24 – Jan. 9: 1963 Philadelphia Eagles official program.
High Bids Win Rare Books, Catalogs, Magazines and Machine Manuals December 24 to January 9
High Bids Win, Dec. 24 – Jan. 9: 8 - Esquire the magazine for men 1954.
High Bids Win, Dec. 24 – Jan. 9: The American printer, July 1910.
High Bids Win, Dec. 24 – Jan. 9: Leaves of grass 1855 by Walt Whitman.
Sotheby's Fine Books, Manuscripts & More Available for Immediate Purchase
Sotheby’s: William Shakespeare. The Poems and Sonnets of William Shakespeare, 1960. 7,210 USD
Sotheby’s: Charles Dickens. A Christmas Carol, First Edition, 1843. 17,500 USD
Sotheby’s: William Golding. Lord of the Flies, First Edition, 1954. 5,400 USD
Sotheby's Fine Books, Manuscripts & More Available for Immediate Purchase
Sotheby’s: Lewis Carroll. Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There, Inscribed First Edition, 1872. 25,000 USD
Sotheby’s: J.R.R. Tolkien. The Hobbit, First Edition, 1937. 12,000 USD
Sotheby’s: John Milton. Paradise Lost, 1759. 5,400 USD
